Kingston 80GB SSDNow M Series Drive Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

The Intel X25-M/Kingston SSDNow M Series 80GB SATA 2.5″ internal SSD is a very impressive drive that looks great on paper and held its own when it came to the benchmarks. The SNM125-S2/80GB lead many of the read benchmarks, but trailed other SSDs in the write benchmark tests. Intel claims their drives and firmware is better suited for wear-leveling, but that is something we can’t test. Sometimes slower is better and if the drive lasts longer it might be worth it as SSDs cost significantly more than traditional mechanical hard drives. The Kingston SSDNow M series has more to offer than just fast performance numbers as the drives have no moving parts inside, which means that they are very rugged and can withstand shock and extreme environments that traditional drives would never work in. The only weak point found in the SNM125-S2/80GB is the capacity as 80GB isn’t that much these days. It should be pointed out that the free capacity of the SNM125-S2/80GB hard drive is actually 74.5GB as shown below and not the rated 80GB.

For those looking for more storage capacity the Kingston SNM125-S2/160GB is available on the market, but at nearly twice the price.

• Kingston SSDNow M Series SNM125-S2/80GB – $366.35
• Kingston SSDNow M Series SNM125-S2/160GB – $682.17

When you break down the pricing you are paying $4.58 per Gigabyte for the SNM125-S2/80GB, which makes it one of the more expensive SSDs on the market today. For comparison sake the OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD retails for $360.49, which comes out to being $3.00 per Gigabyte. That means you have a tough choice as both these two drives are among the fastest and most recommended on the market today. Both drives have firmware that can be updated by consumers, which is a nice touch. The Kingston SSDNow M series also gets a thums up as it uses the Intel firmware updates, features a three-year warranty and comes with the support of KingstonCare. When buying a hard drive you should want something that is reliable and stable, which is something you can be certain of when it comes to Intel/Kingston.

Legit Bottom Line: The Kingston SSDNow M Series SNM125-S2/80GB is identical to the Intel X25-M SSD and is one of the best SSDs that money can buy.